There is an immense variety of prepared food products on the market. These food products are often prepared in a batch process, and some products are prepared using extrusion techniques. The food art contains an enormous amount of disclosures pertaining to the preparation of such prepared food products.
Due to the intense competition in the prepared food market, any advantage that can be obtained in the preparation of the product can be extremely valuable. These advantages are often manifested in improvements in efficiency as well as improvement in the quality and taste of the product itself. However, improvements in versatility for the systems and elements used in the production of the food product can also be important. Of course, the advantages are most striking if a design change improves all of the above-mentioned elements.
Multilayer prepared food products have been popular in recent times. These products are often two layers and are often formed by fairly complicated processes. Such products have often been expensive to produce and the processes are generally not amenable to easy modification so the product is not easily changed to accommodate market dynamics.
Therefore, there is a need for a process and system that can efficiently produce a multilayer prepared food product. Still further, there is a need for such a process and system that is amenable to efficient change.
More specifically, the production of a multi-layer prepared food product having two layers has often been complicated and expensive resulting in an expensive product. To the inventor's knowledge, there is no multi-layer prepared food product having more than two layers that can be efficiently produced in a cost-effective and versatile manner. Therefore, there is a need for a process and system for efficiently producing a multi-layer prepared food product that has more than two layers.
Most specifically, to the knowledge of the inventor, no multi-layer prepared food product on the market at the present time simulates a cheeseburger. That is, a food product that has a layer of cheese and a layer of meat sandwiched between two layers of bread. Because of the popularity of cheeseburgers, it is believed that the market for a prepared food product that simulates a cheeseburger will be quite large.
Therefore, there is a need for a process and system for producing a prepared food product that simulates a cheeseburger.
The market for animal-consumable food is nearly as large as the market for human consumable food. The animal food market has numerous forms of pet treats including treats that simulate many food items that are produced for human consumption. However, to the inventor's knowledge, there is no prepared food product on the market that is intended for animal consumption that simulates a cheeseburger.
Therefore, there is a need for a prepared food product that is intended for animal consumption that simulates a cheeseburger.